As
I reflect on my time in Salem, I'm proud to have been part of a legislature
that made history. With an Oregon House
evenly divided by Republicans and Democrats, citizen-legislators showed the
rest of the nation what happens when leaders set aside partisanship for the
common good.

This
spirit of cooperation was evident throughout the past two years. We reformed
the budget process and adopted a spending plan that didn't raise taxes, while
setting aside significant reserves to protect services from further cuts. It was also evident during December's extraordinary
special session, when I took my final vote to pass a measure that enables Nike
to expand, create thousands of new jobs and generate billions of dollars in
economic activity. I believe the next legislature must follow a similar path of
bipartisanship, fiscal reform and job creation.

The state's fiscal management
must be addressed comprehensively. As
funding in each service area is changed, other budget areas experience a
counter effect. For example, if you
increase education funding, other areas like senior services may experience cuts
to absorb this redirection of funds.

In
2013, the biggest fiscal challenge facing Oregon governments and school
districts is the unfunded liability in the Public Employees Retirement System. Raising taxes or reducing services to balance the budget is
a false choice as long as state government fails to fix the state pension system. PERS is draining hundreds of millions
of dollars from our classrooms and other essential services. PERS costs will
climb another $900 million in the next biennium, and employer rates will
increase 30 percent over the current budget cycle.

Gov. John Kitzhaber
understands the problem and has proposed some PERS reforms that could save $865
million in the next budget. Unfortunately these reforms, if approved, would
only contain this most recent growth in PERS costs. His proposed budget assumes
$253 million in PERS savings for school districts alone, which is enough to
hire 500 additional teachers.

In 2011, I introduced a PERS reform that would
have saved much more by limiting the amount a public
employer can agree to pay towards an employee's account. If Oregonians want
great schools and adequately-funded services, the next legislature must address
this critical issue.

Oregon has many
pressing fiscal issues to address in the next biennium, and our tax revenues
will remain volatile as long as our economic recovery and job growth remain
weak. To protect services from a sudden decline in revenue, the Governor and
the next legislature must continue to set aside money in reserves. It's
troubling the Governor's budget only leaves $130 million, which could be wiped
away in a single negative revenue forecast.

The Governor's
budget also proposes $450 million bonding authority for the Columbia River Crossing, yet there are serious
questions about the height of the new I-5 bridge and fiscal sustainability of
the project itself. As the only CPA in
the Oregon House, I paid careful attention to the bridge project. I'll continue
to do so as some proponents call for higher gas taxes and vehicle registration
fees to pay for this questionable project.
Though I am leaving office, I will watch the next legislature closely to
see how they handle these issues and other issues.

Abraham
Lincoln is believed to have said that a man "should be proud of the city in
which he lives, and that he should so live that his city is proud that he lives
in it." I'm deeply proud of our community, and I'm grateful to have served in
such an historic legislature. My
legislative service is coming to end, yet my community service will continue
long after.

Katie Eyre, a Republican, represents House District 29 (Hillsboro,
Cornelius and Forest Grove). During her time in Salem,
she has served on the Joint Ways and Means Committee and the House Revenue
Committee.